


Back to Basics

by gloomypacas



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Kindergarten & Pre-school, Fluff, Kindergarten Teacher Makoto, M/M, single father falls for adorable kindergarten teacher trope, single parent Sousuke, what can i say i'm a sucker for cliches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-08-18
Updated: 2014-08-22
Packaged: 2018-02-13 16:44:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,802
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2157879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gloomypacas/pseuds/gloomypacas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Single dad Sousuke meets his son's new preschool teacher.<br/>Sousuke's son may be the one going to school, but he isn't the only one with something to learn from Makoto sensei.</p><p>Based on prompt by sinbanana (now mikoshibamomothehomo, gosh that's a long name) on tumblr. Check out her adorable art here: http://gloomypacas.tumblr.com/post/95085823943/sinbanana-kindergarten-teacher-makoto-and</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Let's just say that if I owned the Free! boys, SouMako would have had some onscreen interaction by now...

“Daddy… Daddy, wake up!”

Momentarily disoriented from being jolted out of a fitful sleep, Sousuke slowly opened his eyes and came face to face with his excited four year old son.

“Come on daddy! It’s time for school!” said Hikaru as he climbed on top of the bed and pressed his chubby hands against Sousuke’s cheeks to wake him up completely.

Oh, that’s right; Sousuke's sleep-addled brain finally recalled that today was Hikaru’s first day at kindergarten. In spite of all he had done to prepare for his son’s first day in school, the combined stress of his heavy workload and his emotionally draining divorce from Aiko nearly made him sleep through his son’s first day of kindergarten. Shaking his head a few times to wake himself up and shrugging off a vague sense of guilt for nearly oversleeping, Sousuke tackled his son to the bed and tickled him playfully, only stopping when Hikaru started to giggle uncontrollably.

“Time for school? You mean my baby’s a big boy now?” Sousuke teased as he hugged his son close to his chest and placed a kiss on top of the child’s head.

“I’m not a baby, I’m four! Hikaru’s a big boy now!” Hikaru exclaimed indignantly as he held up four tiny nail-bitten fingers right in front of his father’s face.

“Yes you are” Sousuke laughed. “Now would my big boy like to go brush his teeth and change while I get wash up and get breakfast ready?” Nodding furiously, Hikaru raced off in the direction of his room, leaving Sousuke to his own thoughts as he headed towards the bathroom to get ready.

\------------------------------------------

Hikaru had been so excited in the days leading up to his first day in kindergarten, and it made Sousuke’s heart clench painfully at the thought that this week had been the happiest he’d seen his son since his divorce from Aiko.

Conscious of the fact that he and his ex-wife had been drifting apart over the last two years of their marriage, her affair and the resultant breakup of their marriage hadn’t come as a complete surprise to Sousuke. What he hadn’t expected however, was that the woman he once loved would be cruel enough to essentially abandon her own son.

Sousuke’s hurt and anger at Aiko for cheating on him was nothing compared to the pure fury he felt as he recalled what had happened outside the courtroom after the conclusion of the custody hearing. He’d gritted his teeth as he watched Aiko give their son a brief kiss on the cheek, turn around, and promptly walk away hand in hand with the bastard that she claimed to have fallen in love with over the course of their affair.

Aiko never looked back. Not once. She never saw the lost look on Hikaru’s tearful face as his mother walked away from him, damp, sticky fingers desperately clutching his father’s hand like a lifeline. She never had to see the sad face that often haunted Sousuke’s dreams; the distraught look on his son’s face that had caused Sousuke to wake up, pulse racing and in a cold sweat on more than one occasion since that awful day.

Even now, five months after their divorce, Hikaru’s mother had not called or visited him even once. The only form of contact Aiko had deigned to have with her son had been a grand total of two postcards. The first one she had sent soon after her move to the US to start a new life with her lover, telling Hikaru about her new home and saying that she loved him in the last line of the hastily scribbled message. The second had arrived three months later, nearly two weeks after Hikaru’s fourth birthday, with a picture of a bulldog in a party hat and a cheerful yet ironic “Happy Birthday!” emblazoned across the front in shiny ink.

Sousuke knew how much Hikaru missed his mother, and he saw how his son rifled through the mail each day, eagerly looking for a letter from her, only to be disappointed each time. Nonetheless, it had taken all of his willpower to stop himself from crushing the latest postcard and tossing it straight into the trash – just as Aiko seemed to have done with her relationship with her son. Instead, he watched with a heavy heart as his son carefully treasured these crumbs of attention that Aiko threw his way, placing the postcards lovingly in his cherished batman lunchbox along with his other prized possessions.

Though the small part of Sousuke that had fallen in love with Aiko in high school still clung to the faint hope that she would one day renew her relationship with her son, he was forced to admit that perhaps, their family and their son had meant next to nothing to his ex-wife.

As he shook himself out of his musings and dried his face with a towel before changing into his suit for work, Sousuke’s last thought was that he could never forgive Aiko for breaking Hikaru’s heart.

\------------------------------------------

As Sousuke stood at the stove flipping blueberry pancakes, Hikaru appeared in the doorway wearing a pair of jeans, still in his pajama top and holding up two t-shirts with a mildly distressed look on his face.

“Aren’t you going to get dressed? You don’t want to be late on your first day do you?” Sousuke asked as he reached to grab a bottle of pancake syrup from the fridge.

“Which shirt should I wear Daddy? What if the other kids don’t like my clothes?”

“I… I just want them to like me…” Hikaru almost whispered the last part.

Sousuke felt his heart squeeze tightly in his chest. In the immediate aftermath of Aiko’s departure, Hikaru had gone from being a happy, confident child, to one filled with self-doubt, constantly seeking validation from others. Yet, who could blame him after all that he had been through? In four year old Hikaru’s mind, he was convinced that he must have done something wrong to make his mother leave so suddenly. The ever present fear that he would make a mistake and end up alone was something that Sousuke had worked hard to quell, largely successfully. It was only occasionally, at times such as these, that Hikaru’s insecurity reared its ugly head and made the child fret about making decisions that he felt could determine whether he was accepted or rejected by other people.

Sousuke placed the last batch of pancakes on the kitchen table and knelt in front of his son, looking him in the eye and smiling at him. “Hmm, which one do you like Hikaru? You’re such an awesome kid I’m sure all the other children would love to be your friend no matter which shirt you wear”.

“Well, I like my batman shirt best I think.” Hikaru said as he held up said shirt against his chest. “Do you think they’ll really like me?”

“Of course they will. And you know that no matter what, I know that you’re the bestest little boy ever, don’t you?”

“You’re silly daddy” Hikaru giggled as he changed into his batman t-shirt and sat down to eat his pancakes.

A soft whisper of “thank you daddy” reached Sousuke’s ears as he removed his apron and sat down to join his son for breakfast.

\------------------------------------------

After they finished the pancakes, they got into the car and started out for Hikaru’s new school.

Hikaru sang along to the songs playing on the latest Disney album Sousuke had gotten him over the weekend, and Sousuke allowed the sound of his son’s voice wash over him, joining in for the chorus for the songs he recognized. Hikaru’s excitement grew as they drew closer to the kindergarten, and he was chattering enthusiastically and loudly by the time they pulled up to Iwatobi Kindergarten’s colorful welcome sign covered in adorable hand-painted animal motifs.

“Woah there cowboy, don’t forget your backpack” Sousuke reminded his son as Hikaru hurried to exit the car.

“I know daddy” Hikaru said as he grabbed his bag and slung one strap across his shoulder, practically vibrating with excitement. “Look! They have a slide! And monkey bars! Do you think I can play over there daddy?”

Before Sousuke could answer, he heard a voice come from behind him.

“It’s such a beautiful day, I’m sure we can find some time to play on the jungle gym.”

Sousuke turned around and came face to face with a striking young man with a brilliant smile and the most gorgeous pair of green eyes he had ever seen.

“Hi, I’m Tachibana Makoto, one of the teachers here at Iwatobi. You must be here for our first year preschool class.” The brown haired teacher, _Tachibana_ _Makoto_ , looked at them expectantly, his bright smile never leaving his face.

Momentarily stunned by the appearance of what he privately thought must be the most attractive preschool teacher _ever_ ; Sousuke hesitated long enough that Hikaru started talking to Makoto before he could even open his mouth to respond.

“Uh huh, Hikaru’s here for school! Are you my teacher Tachibana-sensei? Can we really play on the slide later?”

“Hello Hikaru, it’s very nice to meet you. I’m teaching the first year class – so yes, I’ll be your teacher this year. How about we play there after we meet the rest of the class?” Makoto said as he stooped down so he was at Hikaru’s eye level. “Here, why don’t you hold my hand and I’ll take you to meet some of your new classmates.”

Hikaru looked at Sousuke for approval, and shyly grabbed Makoto’s hand when his father nodded at him. Makoto stood up and turned towards Sousuke as he held Hikaru’s hand gently.

Having recovered from his temporary lapse in concentration brought on by the encounter with his son’s unexpectedly handsome preschool teacher, Sousuke finally spoke up and held his hand out to Makoto for a handshake.

“Hello Tachibana-sensei, I’m Yamazaki Sousuke, Hikaru’s father. It’s very nice to meet you. Please take care of my son”.

“It’s good to meet you Yamazaki-san. I’ll take good care of Hikaru so please don’t worry about him” Makoto said as he stretched out his hand to return Sousuke’s handshake.

Makoto’s hand felt warm in his, and Sousuke felt a surprising frisson of pleasure as he watched a faint pink tint spread across Makoto’s cheeks after he accidentally brushed his index finger against Makoto’s inner wrist as their hands parted.

Looking down at his watch, Sousuke realised that he would be late for work if he didn’t leave soon. After checking with Makoto to confirm that Hikaru was enrolled in the school’s afternoon daycare program, he ruffled Hikaru’s hair playfully and promised him that he would be back later that afternoon to pick him up after work.

Walking back to his car, Sousuke turned around to wave to his son once more, and was treated to the adorable sight of Hikaru and his new teacher waving back to him with matching smiles on their faces.

Traffic was abysmal as he drove to work that day. That didn’t stop Sousuke from grinning the entire way there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone :D
> 
> The power of SouMako (and sinbanana's (now mikoshibamomothehomo) nagging XD) has compelled me to write my FIRST EVER FANFIC!! YAY! *does happy dance*
> 
> I'm pretty nervous about posting this so any comments/feedback would be much appreciated. This hasn't really been edited so feel free to point out any mistakes you may find. :)
> 
> See you next chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

It’d been nearly three weeks since Hikaru started preschool at Iwatobi Kindergarten, and Sousuke and his son had settled into a comfortable routine. Every weekday, Sousuke dropped Hikaru off at school before work. And every time he did so, Sousuke had the undeniable pleasure of meeting the delectable Tachibana-sensei as he greeted each student and their accompanying parents cheerfully every morning.

Sousuke was quite aware of the fact that he was attracted to Makoto – at least physically, at any rate. Before he’d started dating Aiko at the end of the last year of high school, Sousuke had explored the boundaries of his sexuality quite extensively, experimenting with both men and women as he discovered what he needed to satisfy his carnal desires. While he loved running his hands over the generous curves and soft skin of a woman, Sousuke also appreciated the hard planes and sheer strength of a man’s body. There was also something to be said about the fact that kissing a man was oftentimes more enjoyable since he didn’t have to bend down in uncomfortable positions to kiss someone who was close to his own height.

Sousuke had hooked up with a handful of people, both male and female, since his separation from Aiko; his charismatic good looks ensuring that he suffered no lack of interested parties. He was happy to indulge in the occasional one night stand, as long as it remained just that. Sousuke’s wounds from his divorce were still raw, and he had no interest in pursuing a serious relationship. Not yet, perhaps not ever.

Unfortunately for Sousuke’s libido, these passing encounters were few and far between; taking place only when Hikaru was away for the night, spending the occasional weekend with his grandparents. And as a sexually deprived single dad, Sousuke was neither proud of nor particularly ashamed of the fact that Makoto was becoming an increasingly frequent visitor in his nightly fantasies as he jerked off in the shower after Hikaru had gone to bed. His latest one had featured the deceptively angelic-looking _Tachibana-sensei_ on his knees, pretty lips stretched wide around Sousuke’s cock, warm fingers stroking _just the right spot_ behind his balls, making Sousuke come so hard he had to brace himself against the bathroom wall with shaky hands to prevent himself from falling over.

As far as Sousuke was concerned, his attraction was based entirely on lust, and he had no intention of ever acting upon those impulses. At least, that’s what he told himself.

The fact that he’d caught himself smiling goofily while recalling the adorable and decidedly _non-sexual_ sight of Makoto catching an eager Hikaru in his arms as he flung himself at his teacher when they’d arrived in school one morning was something Sousuke chose to ignore.

\---------------------------------

“Hey Sousuke, are you ready to go?”

Sousuke looked up from the paperwork he was poring over and saw Rin, his colleague, best friend, and Hikaru's godfather, leaning casually against the doorframe at the entrance to his office.

“Not quite. I want to finish my prep work for the Kobayashi case by today. The trial begins on Monday and the defense lawyer is rumored to be a real pitbull. I need to make sure Kaoru-san is prepared to cope with that when she has to take the stand” Sousuke responded as he rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck to relieve some of the tension that had accumulated in his body over the course of his long work day.

“I guess that means you won’t be joining me for coffee before you pick the little squirt up from daycare?” Rin questioned as he pushed away from the doorframe, loosening his tie as he did so.

“Sorry man, I need to finish proofreading these documents and pick Hikaru up before the school closes”. After a slight pause, Sousuke continued, “You’re still coming over on Sunday right? Hikaru’s been looking forward to playing with his favorite uncle all week”.

“Don’t worry about it. And I’ll be there at the usual time on Sunday. Maybe we can take Hikaru to the new swim club that opened last month; I’m sure he’ll love it. Plus, it’s been a long time since you and I had a race, so that might be fun” Rin said as he turned to leave.

“Sounds great, I’ll see you at my house on Sunday then” Sousuke responded as Rin started walking down the hall towards the elevators, raising his hand in a casual wave to acknowledge he’d heard Sousuke’s parting words.

\---------------------------------

Sousuke and Rin worked as attorneys in the public prosecutor’s office. And as Sousuke progressed in his career, he’d begun to specialize in domestic and child abuse cases; setting an impressive track record for getting convictions in the cases he was assigned. It was a tiring and oftentimes depressing job, with Sousuke constantly having to confront the darker side of human nature over the course of his work. Nonetheless, Sousuke relished the opportunity his job afforded him to ensure that justice was served, doing his part to protect those who were too weak to do so on their own.

The irony that he’d been unable to protect Hikaru from the trauma caused by the breakup of their family was not lost on Sousuke. While he’d been hard at work advocating for the welfare of other little children; for other people’s families; he’d failed to stop the collapse of his own family unit. It was hard for Sousuke to forgive himself for failing Hikaru in this way, and he swore that no matter what happened in the future, Hikaru would always remain his first priority.

\---------------------------------

By the time Sousuke finished the work he needed to accomplish for the day, it was already ten minutes past 6pm, leaving him a mere twenty minutes to get to Iwatobi before the school daycare program ended. By his estimate, he’d be about ten minutes late if he hurried – and if the traffic gods smiled down upon him.

Well, Sousuke didn’t know what he’d done to offend the aforementioned traffic gods, but they were most decidedly _not_ favoring him today. There was a four car pileup on the expressway, completely stopping the traffic flow in two lanes, causing a massive bottleneck. Thankfully, once he’d passed that stretch of road, the traffic cleared relatively quickly, and the time it took Sousuke to reach his destination was only doubled, instead of the hours he’d feared it would take for him to reach his son.

As Sousuke pulled into Iwatobi Kindergarten’s empty parking lot and dashed out of his car, he made a mental note to apologize profusely to Kimura-sensei, the sweet, mild-mannered lady that ran the school’s afternoon daycare program. It was nearly fifteen minutes after 7pm as he opened the door to the school building, and he felt guilty at having kept the daycare teacher so far past her designated working hours. He hadn’t even been able to make a call to notify Kimura-sensei of his tardiness since he’d discovered that his cell phone battery had run out of charge as he left his office building. Sousuke was even more worried about Hikaru’s feelings, hoping his little boy wasn’t too distraught that he hadn’t shown up on time.

Walking down the hallway in the direction of the usual classroom that was used for daycare activities, he heard Hikaru’s familiar cheerful giggle, easing some of his guilt at having been late to pick his son up from school.

As he rounded the corner and stepped into the room, Sousuke was surprised to see Hikaru sitting on Makoto’s lap on a rug in a cozy corner of the room, an open storybook perched on his knees. Their heads were angled close together as Makoto read the book out loud to Hikaru, making his son giggle at the expressive way Makoto imitated the characters’ voices to entertain the child.

Looking up at the sound of Sousuke’s footsteps, Hikaru cried out “Daddy! You’re here!” as he stood up and ran into his father’s open arms, giving Sousuke a tight hug and a kiss on the cheek as he was lifted up and settled securely on Sousuke’s right hip.

“Daddy’s sorry he’s late, Hikaru” Sousuke apologized as he returned his son’s hug and kissed him on the nose.

“It’s okay daddy. Tachibana-sensei was reading to me. He’s really good at doing the voices!” Hikaru exclaimed as he beamed at Makoto.

Makoto had risen from his place on the floor, and stood in front of the father and son duo with a genuine but slightly fatigued smile on his face. Turning to look at Makoto with a grateful expression, Sousuke said, “I’m so sorry for keeping you so late Tachibana-sensei. Thank you so much for taking care of Hikaru. Where is Kimura-sensei? I’d like to apologize to her as well.”

“Ah, Kimura-sensei is out sick today. I’m covering for her while she recovers. And it was no problem looking after Hikaru, he’s a wonderful child”. Looking at his watch, Makoto continued “I’m sorry to be rude Yamazaki-san, but the next bus passes by in a few minutes and I’d like to try to catch that one if possible”.

“Oh, of course Tachibana-sensei. I’m really sorry for delaying you for so long” Sousuke apologized once again as he felt his neck heat up with embarrassment and guilt. “Shall we walk out so you can lock up?”

“That would be great, thank you for understanding. And please don’t worry about it; I’m sure you were very busy with work” Makoto said as the trio made their way to the exit after Makoto gathered his belongings.

Once they were outside the school building, Makoto quickly locked the front door and said goodbye one last time before starting down the road towards the nearest bus stop.

Later, if questioned, Sousuke would not have been able to pinpoint why he did what he did next. Perhaps it was guilt over having kept the teacher later than he should have. Perhaps it was gratitude towards Makoto for easing his child’s worries as he waited for Sousuke to arrive. Maybe, just maybe, it was a combination of these factors, plus the fact that he was ridiculously attracted to the gorgeous young man that happened to be Hikaru’s favorite teacher.

Regardless of the reason, the next words out of Sousuke’s mouth were “Wait! Tachibana-sensei!” and when Makoto stopped and turned around in response to Sousuke’s call, he continued “Please, do have dinner with us Tachibana-sensei, and do let me give you a ride home after that. It’s the least I can do to thank you for staying late to look after Hikaru”.

After hearing what his father had said, Hikaru wriggled excitedly in Sousuke’s arms, asking to be put down. Once he had both feet planted firmly on the ground, he ran to Makoto and tugged on his hand enthusiastically, guiding him back to where Sousuke was standing.

“Tachibana-sensei! Tachibana-sensei! Have dinner with us! Daddy promised me that we could go eat burgers tonight! Do you like burgers Tachibana-sensei?”

“I love burgers, Hikaru” Makoto replied with a smile before addressing Sousuke “I wouldn’t want to impose Yamazaki-san; I can make it home on my own quite easily”.

“It’s no imposition at all; please do let me make it up to you. I know of a great restaurant not far from here, and Hikaru and I would love for you to join us”.

Not wanting to disappoint his eager young student, and sensing that the invitation from the child’s father was genuine and heartfelt, Makoto finally agreed and joined them as they got into Sousuke’s car and began heading to the restaurant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi~~
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone who is reading this fic, and an extra big thank you to everyone who left kudos or comments!! :D  
> It is really encouraging to see that people are actually reading what I wrote and seem to enjoy it. :)  
> All the kind words left in the comments really mean a lot to me, particularly as a newbie fic writer.
> 
> I hope you've enjoyed the second chapter as well. :)  
> Any comments/feedback would be much appreciated!
> 
> See you next chapter!
> 
> (p.s. I realize there hasn't exactly been a lot of SouMako action yet, but it'll get there. I promise! ;P)


End file.
